Thought processes and conversations started under the tilted cap of Tropicana Field. Someday everyone will know the Rays play in St. Petersburg, Florida, not TAMPA, or the fictitious city of TAMPA BAY.

Kazmir strikes out 10, but loses to Angels

Angels 4, Rays 2

There is widespread misinformation about the Rays new Waterfront stadium project. Starting this week,I will be giving you some information form the group, Friends For a Waterfront Stadium (FFWS).

I will give you one quick fact per week about the new stadium and redevelopment of Tropicana Field. If you would like to know more about this group, or their activities, please send an E-mail to their address: info@fansforwaterfrontstadium.com so we can you to their mailing list.

RE-DEVELOPMENT OF THE TROPICANA SITE

The project calls to build a state-of-the-art waterfront ballpark, while re-developing Tropicana Field. The two are interdependent on each other when it comes to this 1.2 Billion dollar investment into our downtown.

Currently, Tropicana Field sits on 86 acres owned by the county. As a result, no property taxes are generated. Did you know that 37% of all property tax dollars goes directly into our school system and 11% goes into other public services (such as the PSTA and Juvenile Welfare Board)? By re-developing the Tropicana site by one of two world class developers currently bidding, approximately $200M will be invested into our school system and 75M into our other public services over 35 years.

This project is great for baseball, but is reaches well beyond the scope of baseball. It is great for our entire city and county.

Rays starter Scott Kazmir lost for the second time this season, and snapped his 6 game consecutive win streak. Kazmir’s 6.2 innings of 6-hit 3-run was not enough to gain a win for the Rays today. Kazmir did strike out 10 Angels to raise his strikeout total to 54 for the season.

Before today’s loss, Kazmir has the second longest consecutive winning streak in the major this season. Boston’s Daisuke Matsuzaka has 8 stright and counting this season. Since the beginning of the 2005 season, Kazmir’s strikeout per 9 IP is 9.65, tops the majors.

Kazmir retired the first 14 batter he faced until Gary Mathews Jr. homered to left in the bottom of the 5th inning.

Akinora Iwamura lead off the game with a triple to deep center.

Aki scored on Carl Crawford’s single to put the Ray up 1-0 early in the game. It was Aki’s 2nd triple of the year. He also leads the club with 10 infield hits this season.

Aki went 2-4 this season and raised his average to .273 for the Rays. Aki is still stuck on numer 199 home runs. He will hit the 200 homer milestone with his next shot.

Evan Longoria hit another double and got two walks against the Angels in the get-away game. Longoria finished the Angels series going 6-9, with 2 homers, 4 doubles, and 3 RBI’s.

With Longoria’s two homers the other night, he is currently 1 homer off the team lead held by Eric Hinske and Carlos Pena.

Dioner Navarro hit a Sacrifice Fly in the 7th inning to score Longoria from third . Navarro is leading the AL with a .349 average, and is leading all major league catchers in average.

Dioner’s average has not dipped under .300 this entire season. Last year at this time, he was hitting .189, with no homers for the Rays. Navarro is also hitting .381 with Runs In Scoring Position (RISP) this year.

Starting tomorrow night, the Rays will again start their Inter-league game against theri inter-state rivals the Florida Marlins. Both squads have been the early surprises of the league, with the Marlins threatening the Philadelphia Philles for the NL East crown.

This series will begin a true test for the Rays. In the next three series, the Rays will battle the upstart Marlins ( 36-29), the Chicago Cubs ( 43-24) and the Houston Astros ( 33-34).

Do not let the Astro’s record decieve you, this squad has been competitive all year long and has na excellient pitching staff. The Chicago Cubs feautre the top record in the majors, ans are managed by former Rays boss, Lou Piniella. This will be Piniella’s first return to the Trop. since leaving the Rays bench several years ago.

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